Arsenal have lost a string of key recruitment battles at their Hale End academy this summer, from missing out on top targets to seeing their own highly-rated prospects reject new contracts and leave for rival clubs.
Manchester City hijacked a move for Leicester City winger Jeremy Monga, 17, whom Arsenal had been closing in on for weeks. City paid £12.5million for the youngster after Arsenal proved reluctant to meet Leicester's £10million valuation.
Tottenham are also close to beating Arsenal to West Ham's Under 15s midfielder Isaac Allen, 15, according to Daily Mail Sport. Arsenal were keen on the player, but Spurs are now confident they will land him.
Academy prospects turn down new deals
Arsenal have also seen prospects they wanted to keep turn down scholarship terms. Kyran Thompson, a highly-rated 16-year-old winger who joined the club in 2024 after Arsenal paid West Ham £1.1million, rejected a new contract.
Thompson was fast-tracked into the Under 18s last season, featured for the Under 19s in UEFA's Youth League, and made his Under 21 debut in Premier League 2. He turned down an extended Arsenal deal, initially pursued a move to Spurs, then pivoted to join Newcastle.
Mishel Nduka, who turned 16 in April, has followed a similar path. He joined Arsenal's academy in September 2025 after eight years at Charlton, made the Under 21s squad twice last season, and played in a UEFA Youth League Under 19s match against Club Bruges in December. He also played 10 games for the Under 18s in an age group above his own. Nduka has now joined Manchester City.
Money and pathway behind the exodus
Two factors are driving Arsenal's struggles. The first is money. Clubs including Manchester City are willing to pay far higher wages than Arsenal for academy players, and that spending does not count towards the Premier League's financial rules.
Daily Mail Sport understands Nduka's Manchester City deal includes a salary of £20,000 a week, around £1million a year for a 16-year-old. Monga is understood to be on an even more lucrative wage.
Arsenal's position is that they are unwilling to pay salaries they consider disproportionate for players who have yet to play senior top-flight football, focusing instead on development, a genuine career pathway and potential resale value.
The second factor is opportunity. With Arsenal as reigning Premier League champions and a squad so strong that Christian Norgaard played only a handful of games last season, breaking into the first team is extremely difficult. That makes clubs such as Tottenham, who have narrowly avoided relegation in the last two seasons, a more attractive proposition for some young players.
New academy director targets signings
There have been some wins for Arsenal this window under new academy director Pascal De Maesschalck, appointed earlier this month. His arrival has helped steady the academy following Per Mertesacker's departure.
Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Cardiff City's Axel Donczew, a 16-year-old attacking midfielder who made headlines in October when he became Cardiff's youngest-ever senior player, aged 15 years and 234 days, coming on as a substitute in an EFL Trophy game against Newport County.
Elijah Upson, the 18-year-old son of Matthew Upson, signed for Arsenal from Tottenham last week and has joined up with the Under 21s. Arsenal are also pushing hard to sign Crystal Palace striker Mylo Bernard, 16.
Hale End's reputation under pressure
Hale End has built a reputation for producing elite talent, with Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly among the graduates to break into Arsenal's first team in recent years.
But the battle for the best young players is no longer just about reputation or coaching. As Arsenal sit at the top of English football, protecting Hale End's advantage in an academy market driven by money and opportunity is proving to be the club's next challenge.
